Thirty Themes
by Lady Abbess
Summary: L, Light and Misa.
1. Chapter 1

**Death Note**

**Thirty Themes**

**One to Five**

**Written by:** Lady Abbess

**Pairing:** Light-Misa-L

**Message:** Read, enjoy, and review!

**Standard Disclaimer Applied**

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_Constantly_

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Misa never have cared what others think of her because as a celebrity, she'd always be involved in issues and trivial showbiz matters. And that's how she decided to continue things in her relationship with her beloved Light – she wouldn't care much of what he thinks of her because the most important thing for her was that she loves him with all her heart, and that the fact could never be changed.

She decided that she wouldn't care at all how he treats her, as long as she could spend some time with him, as long as she could see him each and everyday. It wouldn't matter if he looks at her indifferently, if he doesn't act like the perfect boyfriend, if he was just using her like what Rem had said.

Yet, whatever she does, all the denial would fizz away at the end of the day, when she'd be on her bed, smiling and thinking how wonderful it had been to be with her Light-kun, then remember that all he ever said to her the entire time they were together were three words, "Go away, Misa."

It was painful to feel.

It was painful to have a heart like hers.

All she ever feel were foolish, blinded love, a little hope and dreadful neglect.

"Why do you still love him, Misa-san?" Ryuuzaki had asked her one time, when they were the only ones in the sitting room because Light had gone to the bathroom. It was entirely awkward, though, even if their talk was serious – the handcuff's chain would clatter loudly from both ends.

"What does Ryuuzaki means?"

"Please, Misa-chan," He said, tugging at the cuff, "I'm sure you know fully well what I mean. Why do you still love him, even if he pushes you away?"

"I'm not sure, Ryuuzaki. Misa doesn't know why but ever since she started to, she cannot find the heart to stop herself anymore," She blinked and sadly looked back at him, "Why is Ryuuzaki asking Misa that, hm?"

"I've never understood how love works. Would you still love him even if he does something to hurt you?"

"Of course, Misa would love Light-kun forever!!!"

"Really?" He frowned and ate the last of his cake, before setting down the empty saucer.

"Yes."

The bathroom door closed and out came Light with evident discomfort in his face, scratching his auburn head and glanced down irately at the cuff on his wrist. "Do you know how much it pains me to wear a damn handcuff and have it be connected to you, Ryuuzaki?"

There was no answer coming from the other two in the room with him, and when took a better look, Light noticed that there was slight tension in the room. "Really then, what the hell happened to you two?"

"Nothing much really, Light-kun – I just learned that love could be constant."

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_Sugar Free_

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There would still be some things that he wouldn't understand about the damn scrawny detective, and he wouldn't even bother anymore to even try and understand him at all. Imagine him being able to challenge and take him on once on television, having a criminal pose as him, just to lure out Kira. Yes, he knew that L would somehow be like him – a sore loser, always wanting a real contender to take on. But please, if only he'd be able to do it, all he'd do was to poison the man's sweets so he could get rid of him, without even bothering with his real name. Yet, Light was not Watari, and only the aged man could handle all of the food to be ingested without gaining any suspicion.

"Damn it, Ryuuzaki. It's just cake," He repeated for the umpteenth time of the day. "If you wouldn't eat too much, then maybe the supplies in the fridge wouldn't disappear that quickly."

"I know, but I can't bear not eating cake or anything sweet for at least a minute." L replied, feebly sitting on his chair in the usual way.

"Well, sure. Maybe you can't bear it but to go into deep depression just because of it? Hell, you're nuts." Light glared and went on working on the case. "If only Kira knew you're like this, he could've acted already and taken the chance to stop you."

"But it's only you who's thinking that way so you've managed to increase the percentage of your being Kira again, Light-kun."

"Damn it, I am not Kira."

"I'm sure you are, although I can't think clearly without my sugar. Could you please call Watari for me? Tell him that I want him to double the amount of groceries this time." He tugged at the cuffs on their wrists, annoying Light furthermore.

"LIGHT-KUN!!!!" Misa cried out, waving at the screen before them, indicating that she was just outside the room they were in. "Is it alright if Misa comes in? No one's around to keep Misa company, even Matsuda-san!!! Where is everybody?"

Light sighed and spoke into the microphone, "Misa just come in and stop screaming. Behave and be a good girl because I don't want to deal with another baby."

"Light-kun is so mean to Misa." She huffed and walked in, carrying her bag like she always does.

L just eyed her blankly before turning away and staring into nothingness.

Misa was curious and asked, "Why is Ryuuzaki-pervert-san suddenly quiet and pays no attention to Misa-chan? Or even Light-kun?"

"He ran out of sweets." Light responded.

"He did?!"

"Why are you so surprised about this?"

"I thought he's the type to have unlimited supply of it."

"Well, he was supposed to be."

Misa just smiled and the glint in her eyes was something Light didn't like. "Misa-chan knows how to make Ryuuzaki-pervert-san normal again!!!"

L turned to her and eyed her up and down, as if wondering what on earth she could do to ease his suffering.

"Misa-chan has this!!!!" And out of her bag materialized a pack of Hershey's Kisses, Cookies n' Cream.

For the normal person, this wouldn't have meant so much, but if the person in question was world-famed detective L, it was no surprise that his eyes instantly lit up and he eyed the pack eagerly before it moved up to the hand and arm attached to it and finally settling on Misa's beaming face.

He turned to Light, saying, "Forgive me, Light-kun", before tackling Misa to the floor.

"WAIIIII!!!!! LIGHT-KUN!!! Quick, help Misa!!!! Ryuuzaki is molesting Misa!!!!"

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_Boredom_

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L was a wondrous, weird thing to people who barely could understand him – a curse to criminals out there, and God's gift to the people wanting to capture those cursed criminals. It had become his life and nothing else to eat his sweets and try solving a puzzling case. No attachments at all, not even with the people he works with. Maybe Watari, but it was Watari's choice to act like a father to him – he never asked, not once.

Now, to count down all of his quirks, one might need to have to make use of the toes in his feet, because certainly they would be plenty.

One, there would no single person who could say that they've seen him eat a decent, nutritious meal – not even Watari.

Two, he wears the same clothes everyday.

Three, he never seemed to leave the house at any time, only when needed, and Watari is the one who does all the housework and groceries. What person could be able to do that?

Four, no one but Watari had seen his face, until the Kira case came along, and now, only a handful of people had met him personally. Still quite a few.

Five, does he ever take a bath?

Six, does he even brush his teeth?

Seven, no one knows of his true name.

Eight, he is so emotionally and socially, maybe psychologically, dysfunctional.

Nine, he is so unethical at times that the police would so disagree with his tactics, especially Yagami-san.

Ten, he doesn't sleep, it seems.

"Saa, Light-kun." Misa said, sitting across him from the sofa, "Misa doesn't know what else to add to our list. Maybe it's wrong that we say Ryuuzaki's quirks countdown could use up the toes in our foot."

"We're not just thinking hard, Misa. Besides, what else should we do? It would be too troublesome if I even bother with trying to keep you away." Light replied.

"Play footsie with Misa under the table, Light-kun." The blonde suggested. "Or maybe we could observe him from a distance and see if we could add more to the list!"

"What makes you think I'd play footsie with you? Misa, get real and maybe you can add this one as number eleven."

She pretended to ignore the rather rude sentence, "Let's hear it then! Light-kun is such a genius!"

Eleven, he loves setting up cameras to watch other people. A thing only a few would do.

"Oh, Misa-Misa has one, too!!!"

Twelve, L is a pervert.

"Well, if that is true then it's a valid entry but what evidence do we have?"

"Misa-Misa is being watched by L every time on cam! And Misa-Misa had noticed that sometimes his gaze isn't on my face so that means he's staring at something else, like my…" And she gestured downwards, gazing at her chest.

"Fine, fine. I think I realize that, too. So that must mean he's checking you out?"

"See, he is a pervert!!!"

"Fine, entry twelve is now legalized."

Misa wrote it down on the piece of paper their countdown was on.

"What are you doing?" L's voice floated from a speaker nearby. "And I am not a pervert."

"We were bored." Light replied, not minding the fact that the subject of their conversation had been listening all along.

"And Ryuuzaki is such a pervert."

"Male hormones cannot be controlled, Misa-chan. And it is not my fault that you have a rather attractive chest, indeed."

"PERVERT!!!"

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_Puddle_

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Misa kept their little countdown in her room, and would take it out whenever everyone leaves and Watari does the groceries. They haven't made new entries yet because L never showed any weird behavior aside from the ones they already knew of. But this time, she and Light worked on it in the main room, where the investigation team works in every time and the cameras were monitored. L, though, was nowhere in sight.

And he didn't show up in one of the cameras either.

"Mou, where on earth is he?" Misa whined, "He can't have gone with Watari!!!"

"Well, if he did then it means that it's just the two of us here. How bothersome."

"Turn off the lights, Light-kun, and I'll lock the door."

"What are you talking about?"

"Misa wants you!!! She really does!!!" And from the chair she was on, she moved on to Light, who held her by the shoulders and pulled her away from him.

He had a blank look on his face, "Misa, you do know about personal space, don't you? And I wish to check on the monitors where the loud sound I'm hearing is coming from – be a good girl and stay put."

"Eh?"

It was the sound of splashing, spilling water.

"Where is that coming from, Light-kun?!"

"I think," He tried locating it from the many screens, "it's coming from this bathroom."

"Ryuuzaki-pervert-san, what are you doing in there?!" Misa spoke on the microphone.

L, upon hearing his name called, emerged from the said bathroom, wearing a soaked bathrobe and a towel was draped on him. He looked so much like a drenched puppy with his hair all flat on his head, much like a puppy's fur when wet. "I broke the bathtub's faucet…" He quietly said, nibbling on his thumb, feeling unsure of himself, water flooding the corridor from the now-open door.

Entry five was changed from 'does he ever take a bath?' to 'he doesn't know how to take a bath.'

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_Idea_

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Being in custody can make one cranky, insane, and yes, insane. At least, that was what Light thought as he looked down and cringed at the awful, frilly, pink thingy his so-so girlfriend made him wear before looking back to see her trying to dump one on L, too.

'Play dress up' she called it, and from what he could recall, it was a girls' game.

He just couldn't understand why a grown-up, famous model would go so low just to have some fun.

Well, in his case, he'd call it low.

Ryuuzaki might, too.

"Misa-chan, I appreciate your want in dressing me into something other than my homey shirt and jeans but could you not make the clothing so frilly, itchy and bright, sunshine yellow?" He heard L trying to reason with her but hey, dumb luck, kid.

If the boyfriend can't reason with her, what makes it possible that the scrawny detective could?

"Ryuuzaki-pervert-san!!!" Misa exclaimed, "You're making this hard for Misa when all she wants is to see you garbed in female clothing!!! You can take it off later – you ain't got to wear it all day!!!"

He eyed her warily, and took a step back. "Misa-chan, as a male, it is a blow to the ego to even try and wear the least of female fashion."

"Screw your ego!!! Look, Light-kun is wearing his!!!!"

Ryuuzaki frowned and glanced at the female's boyfriend, eyeing the frilly clothes and laces and all. "There is the possibility of about 2 percent that Light-kun might be a cross-dresser, after all. Or that he would like to make up to how he treated you last night because he rather insulted your femininity in my opinion."

"If I were you I'd take back the first sentence you said for there is the percentage of a hundred that I, Yagami Light, would kick your ass if you won't."

They eyed each other for a fair, few minutes before L spoke, "I take it back but I owe you no apology."

"Whatever."

The reply got them into a glaring bout until Misa decided that it was time to interrupt, exclaiming, "Misa-Misa is so not tolerating you anymore!!!" and pounced on the poor detective, tugging on his clothes, while forcing the dress on him.

A few minutes later, the other members of the investigation team blinked and tried to understand why the two intelligent youngsters were decked out in the Lolita fashion.

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**TBC**

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**A/N:** Hey, hey!!! It's my first Death Note fic!!! Oh, and this isn't entirely a story with multiple chapters… They're more like drabbles based on themes that got me thinking of Light-Misa-L scenes. Ne, how do you like this one?! Please review and tell me (also be kind, no flamers, please!!!) what you think of this.


	2. Omake: Near

**Death Note  
****Thirty Themes**

**Six  
****Written by**: Lady Abbess  
**Message:** Read, enjoy, and review!

**Standard Disclaimer Applied**

* * *

**-Remembering His Life and Death-**

It has been nine years since L was killed by Kira, Yagami Light, and three years since Kira was killed by the Shinigami Ryuk. And the time when the appearance of a new Kira had passed; a time that was almost like before, but it was nothing dynamic, nothing special.

Kira then went underground again and was unheard of until now.

Japan, after falling to number six in life expectancy, was climbing slowly to the top and like a phoenix, rebuilding itself from the ashes of a fire that once burned strongly and fatally.

Even so, everyone kept guessing, asking –

_Would Kira come back?_

And they all hoped for the best.

But nothing stays the same, not everything works out for the best, and it was too much to expect that things would go the way that people wanted. If life was that way all the time, nothing much would happen and it would always be the same. It would always be bland. Then, someone would keep thinking, "What could've gone differently if things weren't like what they were now?"

There would always be evil around the corner, waiting like a snake ready to strike. Crime would forever be present in the heart of society, as the unexplainable need to do wrong was in the heart of a human being.

There were so many things he could use as a reason to explain why he was what he was. He has a passion for mind games, and the complexity of human nature was, in a sense, a game that he would forever play. As callous as it might sound, he hasn't got any real sense of justice, or a sense of what was right and what was wrong. It could be said that he was very much alike with a fallen detective.

Like a puzzle, he fitted the part perfectly.

It was certainly a reason why he took on the name that everyone coveted, and why he would never let go of it as much as he could.

He would always be remembered as Near by the people who knew him.

Yet he would also be known as L.

* * *

_Halloween 2013_

_5 o' clock in the afternoon_

"The Jack-o-Lantern is ugly, isn't it?" He asked quietly, twirling a few strands of his hair between his fingers while he gestured to the carved pumpkin sitting on the floor. There really wasn't much to the petty thing, had no distinctive qualities, but indeed, it served well as a topic to break the momentary silence that had seized the room. He counted the seconds that passed in his mind, a vague ticking of a clock playing inside his head. After a minute had gone, he turned away from the visitor and picked up a piece of colored paper from the coffee table, planning on folding a paper plane with it.

Anthony Lester said nothing, and looked out one of the windows in the vast hotel room that Roger had arranged for the young detective. The view of modern day New York was appealing and the atmosphere of activity below was inducing.

Finally, after three minutes, the younger man started again, "What is it, Lester?"

"You've been gone for thirty minutes earlier." Lester said, and he was certain that it was understood as 'where have you been?' by the other.

The colored paper plane whizzed by him and landed silently on the floor, "There were shops downstairs. And if it would not suffice, I bought a cake from one of the stalls there."

One eyebrow rose, and Lester pointed out, "You have no money."

The listener made an incomprehensible noise, and with graceful fingers folded out another plane, "It was given by the lady in the sweets stall. Said that it was…the term was…'on the house'. And she reckoned that I was cute."

"Does it bother you?"

"The term, not much after learning that it meant 'free'. But the word cute is annoying. Am I a small child to you?"

Lester made no observation on that, but instead asked,

"Why were you going to buy a cake?"

The new paper plane went opposite the direction of the previous one, whizzed across the room before hitting a painting on the wall with a faint thud. It landed, battered a bit, inside the aquarium of sea water fishes.

"Today is _his_ birthday. And yet he's not here to celebrate it." The tone of Near's voice had not much changed but it had something in it that told Lester that he was affected by the fact.

"How old would he be today?"

_It was a topic that he would show some feelings on…_

"Thirty-four."

Lester nodded and stared right into the kitchen, which was just opposite the sofa that Near was sitting on. "How do you plan on consuming that cake? For certain you don't like sweets."

Near smiled but the rest of his face was still blank, "Would you like to have some? Then probably give a slice each to Lidner and Gevanni. I could have one slice as well but more than that, it would be troublesome. Now… what is it that you came to see me?"

Anthony Lester was a man of few words when it came to serious matters, and looking straight into the twenty-two year old's eyes, he said, "Emma Marie."

Near smiled the same smile and nodded, "The kidnapping in California."

Lester watched him closely, saw that the man was discerning the scenarios and of the consequences of the actions to be taken. He slowly shook his head with mild humor; the boy analyzes things too much. But he also knew that the boy was assessing how much the case interests him. He never realized that the young man had stood up.

Near passed by him, bent down to pick up his paper plane, and said nothing.

Lester checked his wristwatch, and nodded, "If it does not interest you, and if you are unwilling to handle it, then I would say no more about it."

He headed towards the kitchen to solve Near's cake problem but halted at the next words to the exchange.

"I may have a trip planned out, but I want it solved before that. To be frank, I'm thinking that this is what L would do."

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_November 1, 2013_

The body of Emma Marie Summers had been found.

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November 3, 2013

The perpetrators in the Emma Marie case was caught, and charged with two counts of kidnapping, four counts of murder, and assault on a police officer. During the course of investigation, it was determined that three other murders were related to the case. It had then become known as the Halloween Occult murders.

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November 4, 2013

_10 o' clock in the morning_

The details of the trip were short and evidently edited but it was expected from Near, who said that his only business was to visit L's grave and nothing else. There was a thought that he might come and visit the Japanese policemen he had been acquainted with during the Kira encounter. No one said anything about that, though, for it was certain that the detective would be somewhat pissed.

He requested that someone stay in the hotel room so that possibilities of anything occurring would be unfeasible, preferably Lester and Gevanni since they were both men.

Lidner had no hard feelings for she knew Near thought it was best.

No one could see why he made such an odd request, however. There would be no one to suspect that he was L or Near.

But it was typical of Near yet again.

Discussions of transportation were cut short and it was determined that Near would travel like _anyone_ else.

They have no say in that decision yet again.

Near had become outrageously stubborn through the years.

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November 5, 2013

_9: 32 in the morning_

The hotel room was empty and felt larger without Near and his sizable array of toys when Halle Lidner and Stephen Gevanni entered. Only a few toys were cluttered on the floor, specifically a jigsaw puzzle and two Rubik's cubes, and the same Jack-o-Lantern was in the position that it was on the last time Lester had visited. Coffee stains marked the otherwise clean surface of the table nearby but no mugs were present.

"I prefer babysitting a young silver-haired man with a penchant for toys rather than being here and play housekeeping." Gevanni quietly said, meaning it to be a start of a conversation. He indeed does feel that way and there was no denying it.

Lidner sat down on one of the plush couches, very crisp in her immaculately white clothes, "I agree. I don't see why Near would like someone to baby-sit his hotel room. Nothing here is that important and surely, no one in their right state of mind would break in an unoccupied hotel room."

"Whatever his reason is, it must be something."

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November 5, 2013

_11: 32 in the evening, Japan_

He never knew how L had looked like and he deemed it selfish of the world to take that from him. Yagami Light, the First Kira, even had the privilege that he wasn't given. What consoled him then was being able to visit his fallen mentor's grave, which was unmarked and adorned in wild flowers.

Near stood, not bothered by the fact that it was a dark night and rain started to pour, over the dead man.

"You could've been the one to have stood here in my place, with Kira in that grave." He said quietly as if he could be heard. "You missed your chance, which then fell into my hands. I'll take better care of that chance."

In his hands, the small spray of flowers started to melt in the downpour and he was getting soaked, water seeping through his clothes and into his skin.

And the night felt colder than before.

* * *

**A/N:** I've written this way before and thought that I'd alternate fun and angst. I just wanted to write Near remembering his former mentor. But Misa, Light, and L would be back soon - hopefully before my midterms!

And if the time line is crappy, oh well. I feel crappy right now so there.


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